Hemsley, who has been in charge of Liffe’s Connect technology system since 2001 and has been a board member since 2002, will leave at the end of March to become chief executive of Choreology, a transaction management firm.

He has been on the board at Choreology for three years, but has decided to leave the exchange to take up a full-time post. Earlier this month, Liffe had played down the prospects of a full-time move to Choreology, despite Hemsley’s commitments as chief executive.

Hemsley’s departure comes at a critical time for Liffe as it transfers all of its derivatives business on to the Connect platform. Although some of the work is done, the Amsterdam derivatives business has yet to move over and the deadline has already been pushed back once. Hemsley was responsible for overseeing the recent transfer of the Brussels and Paris derivatives exchanges to the Liffe platform.

Hemsley, however, leaves behind a strong division that includes Peter Shepherd, director of sales and marketing, who was instrumental in pulling off a deal to supply the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) with the Connect system.

A spokesman for Liffe said there has been an extensive handover period so that Hemsley’s responsibilities can successfully be assumed by the team he leaves behind, including Shepherd. He declined to comment on whether a successor had been appointed, but confirmed that Hemsley would be replaced.